November 6th, 2022 – 18:42 AST/JST. Not that the second notation mattered, since I wouldn't be returning to Japan any time soon. Nor would anyone else trapped in Sword Art Online.

It had been almost an hour since Kayaba Akihiko told us that we could only leave Aincrad in one of two ways – beating the game, or truly, genuinely dying outside of the game.

Heading to Horunka with me, was Kirito. A head shorter than his original avatar, and clearly much younger as well. A fellow beta tester had been forced to show his real face, so that the players of Sword Art Online would understand how real this world had to become for them. Because if they didn't take this world seriously, they would die for real.

Once we got there, and he'd bought some things, I showed him what had changed since the beta. Cooldowns for quests with significant rewards. An output of one Anneal Blade per day. Four jars of sour cream each day, three if everyone slept at night. And I showed him how severely the quest for the calf had changed – the look on his face when we fought the kobolds, was priceless.

We accepted the quest at 8:05, just as two beta testers – Coper and Kathleen – were waiting to accept it themselves. They went off to the west forest to level, and we saw neither of them the following day. Before the quest, we did all the other, more generic quests. The next cooldown for «The Heifer Strikes Back» would end around 2AM the next day. We ended that night at Level 6 for myself, and Level 4 for Kirito.

To think that we would actually sleep inside the game, was a strange thought to conceive. But for what it was worth, it worked. The next morning, I felt more alive than I had any right to feel.

I hopped out of bed, gleefully slithering to the door across from mine and knocking. "On your feet, beta boy! We've got a castle to climb!"

After about 10 seconds, Kirito slowly opened his door, rubbing his eyes with a groan. "It's six in the morning, can't I…"

He then opened his menu again, and looked at the time.

"…Huh. 6AM. I guess I just needed some motivation to get up."

"Yeah, I felt kind of out of it too," I chuckled as he followed me out, "But I knew I had to get up, for everyone else's sake."

"Yeah, you're right." Kirito closed his menu as we took a breath of fresh Horunka air.

Only a handful of other beta testers were up and about at this time, but that just meant we could make the most of the morning. November 7th, 6:03AM AST.

Kirito stretched. "What are we gonna do until the Anneal Blade's quest becomes available again?"

"You could tell me about what you've done so far."

I turned to my left to see a small, hooded figure in leather armor. "Who's asking?"

"Argo's askin', that's me!" The player glanced up at me from under her hood. "And I wanna buy yer info on the other quests."

"Eh? Buy it?" I blinked a few times.

"Yup! I'll need it all, if the new players are to get the guide book I'm looking to produce!"

I shook my head. "Nah, we shouldn't charge money for that. We'll just tell you what to put in."

Kirito stepped around me to get a better look at Argo. "Wait, SAUER, you're giving it for free?"

I leaned back on the wall of the inn. "The new players need that info, Kirito. And so do the beta testers who haven't seen what's changed."

Argo nodded. "Like the cooldown timers."

I shrugged. "Well, there's nothing new about the Anneal Blade quest. And «Lost Calf» was changed into «The Heifer Strikes Back»…"

After explaining the other details, like the scripted encounter, the extra reward, and the advice to ignore the Swamp Kobold Trapper, Argo smiled.

"Well, that was easier than expected," she remarked, looking at Kirito, "And the cooldown?"

"For the Anneal Blade, 24 hours. And the calf finding, six."

"24…!"

I exhaled in amusement. "Kirito, I told you that last night."

"I still find it ridiculous… One Anneal Blade a day? How will we handle supply and demand?"

I shrugged. "The least we can do, is make sure that quest is always being done. That way, we can ensure that we do get the one a day."

Argo nodded. "I should also get the stats of the sword, by the way."

"Oh, absolutely," I pushed myself off the wall and opened my menu, "And you're gonna distribute this guide book you're writing?"

"Yeah," Argo answered, "Gonna have to charge for the first edition to fund future editions."

"Uh-huh. And you'll have to afford printing that first edition to begin with."

Kirito began to smile. "So that's why you're giving it up for free, all this info? So that Argo can save that money for printing?"

I nodded, before telling Argo the stats of the Anneal Blade. She then looked at Kirito.

"What's with you and staring at ladies' legs?"

Kirito flinched and briefly lost his balance. "S-Sorry, it's hard to tell with the outfit."

Argo then twisted her head up to me. "A hand on a lady's waist isn't much better!"

I chuckled softly as I took my hand back. "I'm just showing you where his eyes were."

"It isn't that much of a difference!"

I shrugged. "I think he's trying to figure out what you choose to arm yourself with."

Argo backed away from us a few steps. "If you're willing to explore for that info, I'm gonna have to charge more for it than I would normally."

I sighed with amusement as I closed my menu. "How far do you think I would really go? I wouldn't want to return to the real world if I was gonna be cancelled."

I could see just enough of her eyes to catch her squinting at me. "If ya say so, bud. Anyway though, thanks for all that. Now, Kirito, do you know anything he doesn't?"

The swordsman shrugged. "All I can include is some advice for the new players to reach Horunka."

After a few more minutes of explanation, Argo smiled. "Well, that'll sure get some newbies moving eventually, won't it? Appreciate it all."

She then knocked on the wall of the inn, ta tatata. "I'll knock like this for either of you, if I know yer on the other side of a door."

"Fair enough," I agreed with a nod, "Hope you finish the book quickly!"

Argo nodded as she waved to us on her way out of sight, and I looked to Kirito. "Well, now what?"

Kirito glanced east. "Maybe we see if the calf quest is available?"

"Yeah, get that sour cream again…!"

Kirito blinked. "Why the focus on the sour cream?"

I chuckled softly. "Food can lift spirits, boy. Sometimes all a person needs in life, is a good taste in their mouth. Then they can get up and tackle all their other problems with unbound energy."

Kirito glanced at the ground as we walked the dirt road east. "Lift their spirits, huh…"

When we got to the ranch, the mark wasn't over the NPC's head. I decided to check the cooldown.

"Good morning, sir. How's the ranch?"

The ranch owner smiled like he would when turning in the quest. "My cattle and I are well. Maybe you could come back at 8:15AM?"

Kirito shrugged. "Looks like someone actually went for that 2AM opening."

I looked over to Kirito. "Well, those other quests don't have timers. Wanna do those again?"

Kirito rubbed the back of his head. "It'll only take an hour, but sure."

Sure enough, by 7:20, we'd done them all. And as we sat down on a bench by a small fountain in Horunka's square…

"You know, we haven't even had breakfast."

Kirito slowly turned his head to me as I pulled out my basket. "Breakfast… Then, the food in here is going to be important to us…"

"Oh, 100%," I responded as I took out my other black bread, "There's no shot of anyone in Aincrad eating any real food anytime soon, so they'll learn to appreciate any good taste they can find."

"Here's a taste for you to appreciate." Before Kirito could respond to my realization, Argo, who had popped up again behind us, thrust a glass bottle into each of our hands. "For being good sports about the guide info."

"NPCs sure aren't good glassblowers." I examined the bottle as I commented on the tiny bubbles in the glass itself.

"How'd ya know it was an NPC?"

"No-one's gonna be making glass this early, nor could they put anything particularly good into any bottle this early."

Argo smirked under her hood. "Well, you're right. There's a tiny booth at the western district of the Town of Beginnings where I found the guy that sells these, right at the end of the beta."

I popped out the wooden plug, and stared at the plain label with a picture of a lemon. "Well, I have always taken at least one bite of something before I drink anything."

I then carefully set down the bottle in my basket, tapped my cream jar, and spread it on my bread. After a couple of bites, Kirito took out his basket as well, and did the same.

"Alright, here goes," I said as I grabbed my bottle, and took a sip. Sweet, sour, a rich lemon aroma, and a refreshing bitterness afterward as my throat and then stomach felt warm.

"Oh, it's limoncello."

Kirito glanced at me. "Limon… What's that?"

"It's Italian."

As Argo began to depart, she stopped. "You know?"

I nodded after taking another swig. "I did a tour of Europe with Black Yeti's in-house band in June of 2020. One of the days we were in Italy, I decided to try one of their drinks."

Argo giggled. "I should expect nothing less from the real SAUER." And then, she was gone again.

"So, what is it, then?" Oh, right. That's what Kirito actually asked.

"Alright, well," I yawned softly as I hadn't yet after waking up, "They put lemon rinds and sugar in vodka or another strong, neutral spirit, to infuse it with the citrus flavor."

Kirito slowly lowered his bottle from which he had just taken a whole swig. "It's alcohol?"

I chuckled the way I imagined Argo would have if she were still present. "Alcohol's just a taste and texture here. No narcotic effect."

Kirito looked at the bottle and shrugged. "How strong is it normally?"

"30%-ish. This is at that level."

He looked at the bottle for a moment before drinking it anyway. And then we resumed regular conversation as we ate.

"So, uh, SAUER…" Kirito began as he leaned back, "You're actually the SAUER? You know, since our avatars match our real bodies, now…?"

"Yeah, I…" I coughed to clear my throat, "I am the real SAUER. Lead composer at Black Yeti Studios, and mascot for their Six-Foot Style series."

"Oh…! Yeah, you guys made Butterfly FX, right? And Kart Garage," Kirito chuckled as he sat upright and took a swig of limoncello, "Yeah, I've been playing the latter since 2Tired Revolution."

I smiled and gave his head a pat. "Motorcycles got your attention, huh? Oddly enough, you look like the type for it." I couldn't help but chuckle again as I finished my black bread. "I'll keep that in mind whenever I consider rebooting UDU."

That was my previous shoot-em-up, before ZUN started licensing Touhou fangames for profit. UDU was centered on an alien invasion over Australia, in which the protagonist, a female biker, used harpoons to pull their ships to the ground so they could only fight Mad Max-style. After the series moved on to different enemy types, I merged it into my Touhou series, Fairy Best Friends – and I semi-retired UDU, since Queen Udu herself had become a mainstay in my Touhou continuity.

"Oh, come on. You know how reboots are received." Kirito had a point.

"Well, I may just have the next UDU take place in Gensokyo."

The young swordsman smiled. "Hey, you're not gonna get me into Touhou Project that easily."

I chortled lightly. "Let's just pay attention to this game, for now, Kirito."

Kirito nodded as we finished our breakfast. "Well, let's find something to do for half an hour."

We stood up at 7:25, and Sarako was right there for me to bump into. "Well, well. You're always on the move, huh?"

I sighed at her giggle, glancing at the Kirito-sized boy in front of her. "Good to see you chose your original play style."

"I'm Kafuka," the boy answered, stepping further between us, "And it sickens me that you made a lady like Sarako degrade herself to helping you get the one currently-available Anneal Blade, after what you did in the beta."

"You mean, helping her?"

"You humiliated all of her most loyal guild members!"

A handful of other players nearby glanced over at the commotion. I rolled my eyes as the kid grew further cringe.

"It was our right to get her that Anneal Blade! Now cede yours in return!"

I shrugged and opened my menu. "You look ready to let me wear down some of its durability off on you, so let's cut to the chase."

"Oh, we'll cut to the chase, alright…" He selected Half Loss when I sent the challenge for a duel, and we used the 60 seconds of prep to move to a more open spot where less people would walk. Many followed to watch as we chose the space near the entrance to town, maintaining distance for their safety and our convenience. 3, 2, 1…

Kafuka threw himself forward as he readied Reaver. Knowing the curved sword's early limitations, I stayed where I was, as he flung himself into the execution. His face changed for a moment when I rolled beside the straight line his swing would travel on, and activated Horizontal just as Reaver launched him just behind me. I turned around and hit him with the skill, bringing him down about a third already.

"Damn, were you just sightseeing before 6PM?" I taunted as I stepped back while he regained his movement and turned towards me.

"There was a time when we believed we could play casually!" Kafuka then ran at me with a regular slash, which I deflected, using the curve of his blade to pull his arm to the side, and I gave him a few plain slices for his troubles. Now it looks close to yellow, I thought, as I tried math on his bar.

But 50-60% or not, he wasn't backing down. And he seemed to wake up, too, as he began catching every strike I sent his way with his sword, and landing his own.

I swung at the back of his shoulder, and he drew his arm back for his sword to catch my blade. But then he looked back at the position of his hand and blade, realizing I'd just baited him into the activation pose for Reaver. He then launched himself forward with the skill, and I quickly followed with Slant – but maybe I should have settled for Horizontal or Vertical.

When I struck Kafuka with Slant, the little bit of HP before halfway, was gone. And then, so was the rest of his health. I saw his bar go red, and then to zero. I killed another one.

He slowly turned towards me, his jaw twitching in shock. "B-But… But I chose half!"

I stared at my Anneal Blade in disbelief. "What level are you, Kafuka?"

"Two…!"

My hand slowly fell to my side. "Why did you fight an Anneal Blade wielder at Level 2?!"

But his avatar shattered into blue glass before he could answer. And I stared in silence at the shards that formed, watching them float further apart before dissipating.

I slowly looked around at our witnesses. Kirito, Sarako, Argo, and more than a dozen other players from the beta. Someone had died in real life, by my hand, while knowing the death was real. And these people all saw. They saw me kill another real human being, and my cursor stayed green. The game did not see me as a criminal. I slowly put away my Anneal Blade, and took a deep breath, as the players chattered among each other about the mechanics and circumstances behind the actual, real-world death of Kafuka – while staring at me in fear, pity, empathy, and everything in-between.

"Alright. Listen up," I then addressed the audience of the duel, most of whom turned to show they were paying attention, "We can't let new players think that the duel's conclusion mechanics will prevent the bar from falling past half. And that guy was a beta tester, meaning that anyone in the game has the potential to make a fatal mistake. Or to feel guilt for a death caused by the lack of reasonably sufficient knowledge. Guilt which can mess with a person's mind for years afterward."

The players nodded slowly, and the others turned around as well. I then continued my speech.

"Now… Everything else the other nine thousand need from us, will help every single one of us to escape Aincrad. If the player «Argo» is asking you at any point, for information that will keep other players alive if they know it, and she confirms that the information she asks for is intended for the guide book she intends to publish, do not accept any money from her. Just tell her everything you know about the game. That includes anything new that you've learned in official service, including any changes that would trip up a beta tester relying on old knowledge. We need everyone at their best if we are to win, and log out!"

I looked around at everyone as they looked at each other, and then to me. Then, they began to nod and slowly clap, a couple whistles accompanying the light applause.

"Right. Let's be patient with the quests, and with the new players. We probably won't have a good Field Boss party for the first week, but don't rush before or after that week passes. Let's proceed at our own paces with our respective specialties, and people should start coming together when they are ready to plan things out. That is all."

The players then returned to the things they were doing, the town more chattery than prior.

I walked over to Kirito and Sarako, the latter of whom sighed with disappointment.

"Well, damn," she giggled as she brushed her platinum blonde hair back off of her shoulder, "Looks like I'll have to round up another handful of losers, huh?"

Kirito stared at her with frustration as I nodded. "Yeah, just make sure they can direct their spite towards Kayaba, instead of any slight inconvenience to their 'queen'. Okay?"

Kirito turned his attention to me. "Don't encourage her…!"

"Oh, SAUER," she cackled as she slithered by, her body brushing on mine, "You'd have fallen for me too if the others hadn't turned you off of me."

She then patted the head of the boy who was already not a fan. "And you, little Kirito… I appreciate your wisdom, and I believe you'll go far in life. I trust that you'll find someone who'll actually care about you one day."

Kirito tilted his head as she departed for the Town of Beginnings again, and he turned to me.

I shrugged. "Let's just go for some more monsters."

The boy glanced over to the spot where the duel took place. "You're good to keep going?"

I took another deep breath. "Yeah. Let's go."

"You sure?"

"We have to use the time we get."

Kirito conceded, and we went to hunt some more. Then at 8:15, we took «The Heifer Strikes Back» again, and turned it in around 10AM. I kept the quest reward this time, and during the quest, while guiding the cow, we reminisced on meeting in the beta when we did this quest, back when it was simply «Lost Calf» – although there wasn't much to look back on, other than Kirito getting trampled by the cow when I got too distracted by the world's beauty to remember the rock salt. I did wait for him to get back from respawning at the Town of Beginnings before restarting the quest.

But now, we didn't have respawning. So, it wouldn't be funny to die in such a stupid fashion. And it wouldn't be repeatable. Knowing this, we had to decide what to do for another four hours until the two major quests became available again.

"Well, not much else besides going for other enemy types further away."

"Well, you might want to save your starting sword," I chuckled looking at his equipment menu over his shoulder, "You don't want to go fighting those Nepenthes with the bronze sword from the shop, do you?"

Kirito sighed. "What will you do, then?"

I stretched as we returned to the square. "I'm gonna find the limoncello in the ToB."

"ToB…" He shrugged as he sat down. "Well, I would say that I know you can't die between here and there, but I don't know what kind of players you could run into. So, just make sure you return."

I smiled and patted his head. "I'll bring you some limoncello as well."

I took my leave as he raised his hand to defend his head, and made my way back to ToB.

At about 10:40, I made it to the Town of Beginnings. Even the field by the northwestern gate was flooded with the new players, waiting around for monsters to respawn – evidently without the knowledge from the beta. As soon as they saw me coming back, about ten of them ran up to me.

"What was up there?" "Where did you go?" "Is that map marking a town?"

I laughed walking past them. "Yes, that's a village. There are better monsters nearby, too."

They promptly ran back into town, presumably to stock up on items, and I went in as well. After about 20 minutes, I found the NPC selling limoncello, and bought eight bottles. Then, I bumped into Sarako again – still alone.

"Ah, what brought you down this way?" Sarako giggled as she leaned against a wall.

"Limoncello. Some Italian, lemon-infused spirits."

"Oh, where do you find this, huh?"

"Tiny booth in the west district," I answered as I walked her to the plaza, "Argo gave me and Kirito one each before you and Kafuka passed by."

Suddenly, three guys chattering nearby looked over, and crowded us.

"You knew Kafuka?" asked one. "How do you know him?"

I chuckled and pointed to the girl beside me. "This is Sarako. You remember her differently?"

Sarako smirked as she slung her hair aside. "And it turns out, this is the real SAUER. Don't you go bothering him like you did in the beta, okay boys?"

Their eyes widened at the sight of her real-world beauty. "Oh my god, it's Sarako!"

"Oh, Sarako, we would never antagonize the real SAUER. Especially if you're a fan of him like us!"

I simply smiled with a nod. "Well, I hope you have an easier time with these three behind you."

The boys snickered as their 'queen' waved me off, and I decided to wander around and see how people were holding up.

As I was walking through a street, I heard a boy slightly older than Kirito. "Please, just stay here in town where it's safe."

I looked over to see him talking to a girl. "Please," he begged, "I will get strong enough for us both."

I rolled my eyes and approached them. "Expecting people to hang around in one place forever, will never help either of you."

The two looked at me, the boy seeming disgusted. "Trust me, you can't keep up a two-person pace. Take it from a guy who has only grown five levels in 24 hours, despite going to the next settlement right as service began."

The boy looked down, his mostly-gray hair moving slightly in the morning breeze. "But I have to…"

I sighed. "Listen. You can't just get to Level 12 in two days. But both of you, you can get to Level 6 in just over one."

The boy looked at his seeming ward, and sighed. "Alright. I'm Nautilus. This is Yuna."

I smiled and shook their hands. "I'm SAUER. What skills do you have assigned?"

"I've got One-Handed Sword," Nautilus answered, "I left the other slot empty, for now."

Yuna finally spoke, brushing aside the one braid in her short hair. "I haven't assigned anything yet."

Nautilus looked to her again. "Well, if I have to let you grow with me, and just stay close in order to back you up, you'll have to wield something."

Yuna opened her menu, and looked over her options. After a minute, we could see her choose to assign the Dagger skill. "Is there something good to put in the other slot?" she asked.

"Searching," I answered without hesitation, "Level that skill, and you will always be able to know where the other is – once you unlock the Tracking mod for it."

The two looked at each other, and navigated their menus almost in sync, as they filled their second slots with the skill.

"Perfect," I exhaled, draping an arm over the shoulders of both players, "Use the skill to spot color cursors from players and monsters from a short distance, and the skill will grow to accommodate a larger range around you."

Nautilus glanced at me. "Alright, so… How do we get better without fighting anything too strong?"

I took my arms back as we made our way to the northwestern exit. "You stick together. Don't go to fight the same enemy at once – you want to go in and use your Sword Skills, pull back and «Switch» your allies in while your skill cooldowns roll down."

I stopped and turned around to face them. "Actually, it's more like… Your ally hops in front of you during the post-motion delay to cover you until you can move again, then you hop back in as theirs kicks in after they use their skills."

"Okay," Yuna chimed in, "So, when Nautilus uses a skill, I go in when he stops moving, then he picks up where I left off when I stop moving?"

I slowly nodded. "Yes, that's right. Having the enemy fight one player at a time confuses the AI's learning procedures once you introduce another player for them to adjust to."

Nautilus tilted his head as we resumed walking. "So, overwhelming an enemy with numbers is a lot easier here, than in typical MMOs?"

I chuckled softly. "Absolutely not. It's just that the traditional method is worse here, and this style serves as the perfect replacement."

Yuna nodded in understanding. "I think it would be hard for a real brain to adjust to sudden, new introductions in the middle of a fight, too, right?"

"Oh, definitely," I answered as we continued down the same street where Kirito and I last spoke to Klein yesterday, "There's… There will always be a slight delay in the mind as it tries to find room to recall information about the extra foe, and associate it with the current foe's information."

"So, it's realistic in the sense that even we could be subject to this form of trickery…?"

I glanced at Nautilus, who had fallen a few steps behind. "People have overcome disadvantages of that sort before. Odds are never set in stone."

Not much else was said as we passed all the noobs waiting for slow spawns of low-yield monsters, making our way up the road. A Dire Wolf spawned ahead, and I drew my Anneal Blade, but stepped back behind the two rookies.

"A Level 1 player can kill these with a single Sword Skill. Nautilus, you go first."

The boy ran up with his sword as the wolf approached, and activated Horizontal. As expected, he struck the wolf with the skill's execution, and the wolf's bar wore down to zero, its model shattering.

"See, Yuna?" I exhaled as I approached Nautilus. "Just do a few of those, and pretty much anything will go down soon enough."

Yuna smiled as she walked with me. "Good job, Nautilus! You did it!"

It was only then, however, that the boy's avatar had moved at all, since the system assistance had moved his arm through the Horizontal swing.

Nautilus took a deep breath. "…Yeah. I did, didn't I…"

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You, uh… You feeling alright, kid?"

He glanced up at me, and then shook his head. "I felt like I was frozen for longer than I should have been, for some reason."

I blinked a few times. "Were you doubtful of my advice?"

Nautilus flinched. "N-No, that's… not what I was thinking. I just—"

"You thought it wouldn't be enough…?"

He shook his head. "I thought about how my body locked up, and started to imagine what would happen if there were more enemies around after I used the Sword Skill."

I scratched the edge of my smooth chin, under my right cheek. "I think there may be something wrong with the NerveGear's ability to process your brain signals."

Yuna tilted her head. "Wrong with the NerveGear…?"

I shrugged as we resumed walking. "There's this girl I knew in the beta test, whom I'd last seen last night heading out of Horunka to the nearby forest. She had this problem where she could only feel the touch of hands that she could see touching her. Anything else making contact with her outside her sight, she could feel it just fine. But you could run your finger down her spine and she wouldn't react at all."

"That sounds difficult to deal with," Nautilus commented as he did his best to keep up with us and our walking pace, "But did she find out why it was happening?"

"Well, we figured out that she simply couldn't feel the human skin texture unless she was looking right at it," I began to answer, "And after she brought it to the attention of Argus' support team, it prompted them to dub the phenomenon 'FullDive Non-Conformity'. The NerveGear isn't a perfect device, you see – it's bound to run into some hiccups."

Yuna nodded as she processed the details. "And that includes not picking up certain signals?"

"Pretty much," I answered as I turned to Nautilus, "And in your case, you're having hang-ups about your ability to survive, and your 'Fight or Flight' response cuts off before you can choose either."

The boy glanced down. "So, I'm just going to be more open to enemies than other players will?"

I shook my head. "Only without the confidence to win. If you think your chances are pretty good against whatever you're facing, then your chances will be pretty good."

Nautilus blinked. "…Makes sense."

I nodded as we approached Horunka. "Great. Just maintain that attitude going forward, and it will surely carry you to the top."

As Nautilus began to crack a smile, Yuna's walking picked up in pace. "I'll be sure to remind him of everything you just said, whenever he needs it. Now, shall we get on with the game?"

I chuckled and gave both of them a pat on the head. "Let's go for it."

I probably wouldn't be able to get them to level up as quickly as I did for myself. But, at least they would both be making steady progress together, and not just Nautilus struggling on his own.

As for how I would get them to higher levels… Well, it was about 11:55AM when we got into town. The one, undeniably most important quest on the first floor, would be ready again in just over one hour from now.

I decided that I could use that time to show them around town, get them to buy some better gear, then figure out how to make sure we get to that quest first. First, though, I had to make sure these two could fully grasp the game in its current state.

And I knew just the boy to aid us.